We offer reef and ground fishing trips on Grey Viking all year round, which normally involves fishing at anchor or drifting using bait fished on the bottom. If we are Plaice fishing we tend to drift on the tide over the banks, gulleys and mussel beds where the Plaice are to be found. Most of these grounds are no more than a 30 minute trip out of Brighton Marina in relatively shallow water of 15 to 30 metres deep.
This type of fishing is ideal for those who are new to boat fishing and also for experienced anglers looking for a relaxing day out without the hurly burly of fishing the deep sea wrecks in 60 metres of water! Some species specific trips are also on the ground, for example Bream Fishing on the reefs from April until June and Plaice Fishing which is very popular from March through to October.
Ground fishing from spring through until autumn always makes for an enjoyable and exciting day as every bite can result in a different species of fish being landed. You never really know what you’re going to catch until it nears the surface. We stop on the way out to the fishing grounds and drop a few feathers for mackerel. This proves to be excellent bait and it’s free! Other good baits include squid, cuttle fish, lug worm and crab, depending on the species we are targeting.
What we catch on the Reefs and Grounds
There are so many species you might catch, depending on the ground or reef fished and the season. But to give you some idea of spring to autumn species: Sea Bass, Black Bream, Smoothhound, Spur Dog, Tope, Bull Huss, Plaice, Dab, Ray’s, Garfish, Mackerel, Cod, Whiting and even Conger are all possible to catch on the grounds and reefs off Brighton. If you want to catch a big Cod, winter is the time on the inshore rough ground marks.
Winter Ground Fishing for Cod
During the winter months Cod move inshore and we fish for them on the ground. If you want to catch a big Cod winter is the time to target your personal best. The prime months are normally November through until January. We fish large baits of cuttle, squid or lug on 8/0 pennel rigs nailed hard on the bottom, either uptiding or downtiding in depths around 30 to 40 metres. The winter Cod fishing in Brighton has been superb over the last few years, with good numbers of fish to double figures and plenty of specimens over 20lb caught. You could get lucky and catch a Cod over 30lbs as young Tyler did in December with a magnificent fish of 34lbs. The future is looking really good with cod stocks increasing in number and size all the time.
